Charleston Gazette - West Virginia saw a drop in the number of uninsured residents in 2013, although the main coverage expansion of the Affordable Care Act did not take effect until this year, according to U.S. Census Bureau data released Tuesday. Read

The number of uninsured residents in the state dropped 3.5 percent last year, from 264,000 in 2012 to 255,000. ACA enrollment began in October 2013 and the federal law's enrollment deadline was extended into mid-April of this year, so those newly insured through the ACA marketplace were not factored into the 2013 data.

More than 145,000 West Virginians have been enrolled in Medicaid between Oct. 1 of last year and mid-September, according to the state Department of Health and Human Resources.

"When he decided to expand Medicaid last year, Governor Tomblin took a giant step in improving the health of over 150,000 West Virginians," said Ted Boettner, executive director with the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy. "In a state that ranks low on many health factors like obesity and diabetes, efforts to undo this progress will jeopardize not only the health of working families and their children, but the state's economy."

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